Promising Parking Reforms Brewing Inside Department of City Planning
A generation ago, every new building in New York City had to include parking. Even in downtown and midtown Manhattan, the law required developers to build parking spaces for 40 percent of all new residences. The most walkable, transit-accessible districts in the country had mandates to set aside space for car storage.
October 25, 2011
Weprin Survey Finds 61 Percent Like Bike Lanes, Even in Eastern Queens
Several surveys this year by top polling organizations have found citywide support for bike lanes. And in Park Slope and the Upper West Side, questionnaires put out by local elected officials have shown consistent neighborhood-level approval for new bike infrastructure. Now, another member of the City Council has found widespread enthusiasm for the city's bike lane program among his constituents -- and he doesn't represent the heart of the NYC bike belt.
October 21, 2011
Chicago Proposes “Congestion Fee” On Parking to Fund Transit
In last winter's Chicago mayoral election, all the leading candidates made ambitious promises to increase funding for the city's struggling transit agency. Now, with a proposed $2 "congestion fee" -- really a downtown surcharge on the city's parking tax -- Emanuel plans to make drivers pay their fair share and use the proceeds to build a new rail station and the city's first bus rapid transit line.
October 19, 2011
Flatbed Truck Driver Hit and Killed Cyclist in East Williamsburg Last Night
A flatbed truck driver struck and killed a cyclist in East Williamsburg shortly after midnight last night.
October 19, 2011
DOT Hell’s Kitchen Study Produces Slate of Pedestrian Safety Upgrades
The Department of Transportation presented the findings [PDF] of its five-year study of transportation in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood at a packed public meeting last night. The massive transportation analysis included many critical projects that have already been announced, such as the 34th Street Select Bus Service route and extensions of the protected bike lanes along Eighth and Ninth Avenue, as well as a full slate of new improvements for the neighborhood, from signal retimings meant to improve pedestrian safety to new plaza space and a continuous sidewalk by the entrance to the Lincoln Tunnel.
October 18, 2011